Pompano `Doctor` Lacks Medical Degree

May 11, 1986|By Alan Bavley and Michael Connelly, Staff Writers

Ronald C. Bennett has made a career of selling the promise of everlasting youth.

From his World Health Research Center offices in Pompano Beach, Bennett, 52, promotes ambitious projects to offer people who are anxious about growing old exotic rejuvenation treatments that are unavailable from conventional doctors and hospitals.

With his claims that he holds advanced degrees in medicine and biochemistry, he has convinced doctors and patients from across the nation to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in business deals, training programs and medical treatments.

But Bennett is not a medical doctor. He is not licensed as a physician in Florida. And no evidence he holds a legitimate medical degree could be found.

In California, Bennett is a wanted man. Bench warrants have been issued in Los Angeles for his arrest on longstanding charges of practicing medicine without a license for allegedly performing chemical face peels, a kind of ``nonsurgical face lift,`` on patients.

``He is a promoter ... He is a likable guy. He comes across as someone you can believe in,`` said Dr. Thomas Stephenson, a West Los Angeles plastic surgeon who worked with Bennett for about a year during the late 1970s, even though he knew Bennett was not a doctor.

``Because he called himself `doctor,` (other people) met him as that,`` Stephenson said.

Bennett has used his charm and impressive lifestyle -- he drives a white Rolls-Royce and resides in a large oceanfront condominium -- to gain the confidence of investors to put their money into a Caribbean health spa and a luxury cruise ship.

He has promoted himself through an appearance last summer on a Miami television program and an article about his endeavors in the March issue of Miami/South Florida magazine.

A steady source of income for Bennett for a decade or more has been providing patients with chemical face peels and teaching doctors how to do the procedure.

Performed by a physician, face peels can remove years of lines and wrinkles and blemishes. Doctors use a phenol acid solution to burn away layers of skin so that new, younger-looking skin can grow in its place.

But when face peels are done by people who have no medical training, the procedure can lead to serious burns and potentially fatal complications, said Dr. Thomas Baker, a University of Miami researcher who is an authority on the procedure.

``I would warn there might be some catastrophic results`` when face peels are done by someone who is not a doctor, he said.

Baker, who has studied the procedure for about 20 years, said he considers it a medical practice. Some state authorities agree.

A MEDICAL PROCEDURE

Based on prior opinions by the state Board of Medical Examiners, face peels would be considered a medical procedure, said Diana Hull, spokesman for the board and the state Department of Professional Regulation.

``That is considered a dermatology procedure and must be done by a physician,`` Hull said.

Bennett`s Pompano Beach office has a photo album filled with before and after pictures of apparently satisfied face peel customers.

Beverly Hills dermatologist William Shellow, who worked with Bennett for about nine months in 1977 and 1978, called Bennett`s results with face peels ``beautiful.``

Bennett claims in a short written biography given to a reporter to have done more than 6,000 successful face peels.

But at least one woman is suing him in Broward County Circuit Court for allegedly burning and scarring her face with the acid applied during the procedure.

``She said that the whole time she spoke to (Bennett) she was under the impression he was a medical doctor,`` said Richard Woulfe, the attorney representing Cora Allen of Delray Beach in her suit against Bennett.

Bennett does not have a Florida medical license, said Hull of the Department of Professional Regulation.

Bennett`s usual charge for a face peel and eight days of follow-up care is $3,500, according to Joseph Brown, vice president of World Health Research Center.

According to the promotional literature World Health Research has mailed to doctors around the country, a doctor can earn a profit of more than $250,000 a year by performing face peels. Physicians pay $50,000 for instruction in the procedure, which Bennett calls Exodermology, at World Health Research Center and for advice in how to market their new skill.

Dr. Gus Prosch of Birmingham, Ala., who took Bennett`s training course last year, said he saw Bennett perform about six face peels at World Health Research Center.

NO COMMENT

Attempts over several weeks to arrange an interview with Bennett were unsuccessful. Bennett has declined to comment on his business and medical practices, but his attorney, Kenneth Mikos of Fort Lauderdale, spoke on his behalf.

``He`s done nothing wrong. I mean that. He`s done nothing wrong,`` Mikos said. ``The man is a serious scientist. Most of what he does is research.``

According to Mikos, Bennett received a medical degree in 1971 from the Universidad del Caribe in Caracas, Venezuela.